Gotta agree with Mark. I remember taking the bus to downtown Winston-Salem in the late 50's, walking the 5 or 6 blocks to George's Hobby Shop to spend my allowance, & getting George's advice on what paints to use. Several years later, I "worked" for him in exchange for a model, paints, or glue.

Yeah, when I was a kid, I'd mow lawns for three dollars; get on my bike and ride down to a local 7-11 about four blocks away. I'd buy an Airfix bagged kit, some paints, (sometimes) glue, and some candy. Then I'd ride back home, sit in the garage and build my model while eating my candy!

Aaah, memories. I was prolly 6 pr 7 when my Mom took my down to a local Mom and Pop dept store. It's name was DaVita's, but since everyone knew everyone else it was called Pete's. when you walked in the first aisle to the right was the toy aisle and where they had models. Funny how I remember after 50+ years...

Since it was a little dinky place one time Mom would get me an Aurora monster, the next it was a tank, then a boat. I built whatever they had back then. My first one tho, was the Hawk (?) Vanguard satellite. I thought it was extra cool because most of the satellite had clear dome halves. I'm sure if I saw it now it would have had glue streaks all over it. LOL

Eventually I was drawn to the Monsters and Dinosaurs, which after a big break lead me into the garage kits I love today. Thanks for bringing me back down memory lane.

Yes, this article does indeed bring back many fond memories of the hobby shops (and 5 and 10 cent stores) I visited from around 1955 and beyond there in the Dallas, Texas area. Images of Bernie's Hobby Shop, MAL Hobby Shop (a real icon), Crown Hobby and Toy, and Bobbie Hall's readily come to mind. My first model, ironically, came from the 5 and 10 cent store mentioned, and it was a tiny Aurora B-17 I built. Next came the Vought F4U Corsair. (My father worked at the Vought Plant in Grand Prarie, TX so it was also an influence naturally). After that, I came to know the great members of IPMS and IPMS North Central Texas. Thanks for the memories!